When do your best ideas come to you?
By AmberLynn
@ScribbledAdNauseum (104632)
United States
March 16, 2021 1:25pm CST
If you are anything like me, some of your best ideas come to you at the most inconvenient of times.
For me, that's generally when I'm washing my hair (maybe it's something about the scalp massage?) or when I'm just about to drift off to sleep.
Well today, I bought the remedy for one of those problems. I now have two white boards in my bedroom (where I do my work). One of them is above my desk and the other is right next to where I lay at night. Both adhered to the wall.
When do your best ideas come to you?
Image is free to use under CC licensing and attributed to "New dry erase board" by Bobbi Newman is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 My white board has things I don't want any of you lot to see. 
17 people like this
17 responses
@ScribbledAdNauseum (104632)
• United States
16 Mar 21
Oh yes! Watching nature or being out in nature, it's the best time for ideas to just fall right on out of my head.
1 person likes this
@CarolDM (203454)
• Nashville, Tennessee
16 Mar 21
@ScribbledAdNauseum You are right.
1 person likes this
@akalinus (40440)
• United States
16 Mar 21
I get good ideas when I am drifting off to sleep or dreaming. When I wake up, I can feel the ideas leaving. It is very frustrating. I also get great ideas while talking to my best friend. We can make up stories on the phone. It is hard to remember my ideas when I get off of the phone.
2 people like this
@ScribbledAdNauseum (104632)
• United States
16 Mar 21
That is definitely a frustrating feeling. I always tell myself "you'll remember them", but I rarely ever do.
This way I can write them down and have them for the next morning.
2 people like this
@ScribbledAdNauseum (104632)
• United States
16 Mar 21
@akalinus That would be so nice! It would have to be something that would not be cumbersome to sleep with.
1 person likes this
@akalinus (40440)
• United States
16 Mar 21
@ScribbledAdNauseum When I try to write them down, I can feel them drifting out of my head like an electric current or something. I wish someone would invent something to record dreams so we can look at them later after some caffeine.
2 people like this
@AKRao24 (27424)
• India
18 Mar 21
@ScribbledAdNauseum , Normally We take long drives in rural areas only!
1 person likes this
@ScribbledAdNauseum (104632)
• United States
18 Mar 21
@AKRao24 It's safer and more enjoyable this way. It can be too congested with traffic around here. I live in a suburb.
1 person likes this
@ScribbledAdNauseum (104632)
• United States
16 Mar 21
Oh yes, long drives for me too! Especially if they are in rural areas.
2 people like this
@Marilynda1225 (79699)
• United States
17 Mar 21
My best ideas come when I'm in the shower or falling asleep.
Those white boards do come in handy. I have a small one on my refrigerator
1 person likes this
@ScribbledAdNauseum (104632)
• United States
17 Mar 21
I have a small one on my fridge too, but I never use it. I like the bigger ones I have on the walls of my bedroom / office.
1 person likes this
@ScribbledAdNauseum (104632)
• United States
17 Mar 21
@Marilynda1225 I write a small list on my whiteboard above my desk. I've gotten into the habit of laying clothes out the night before I have to go to the store. It makes things easier and I'm more likely to see the whiteboard that way too.
1 person likes this
@Marilynda1225 (79699)
• United States
17 Mar 21
@ScribbledAdNauseum the bigger ones probably are better for your bedroom. I only use the small one on my fridge for things we need from the store or as a reminder for something
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118433)
• Gainesville, Florida
16 Mar 21
I always used to have great ideas come to me when I was drunk! lol
2 people like this
@ScribbledAdNauseum (104632)
• United States
16 Mar 21
Oh yes, me too. I can be a bit of a dancing / chatty drunk (with the right people) but I also get introspective and start getting ideas about stuff.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118433)
• Gainesville, Florida
16 Mar 21
@ScribbledAdNauseum It's too bad I can never remember my great ideas the next morning! lol
1 person likes this
@ScribbledAdNauseum (104632)
• United States
16 Mar 21
@moffittjc I'm hoping the white board will help with that.
Of course it's mostly for story ideas that pop in my head and not something like my dreams.
Of course it's mostly for story ideas that pop in my head and not something like my dreams.1 person likes this
@arunima25 (85269)
• Bangalore, India
16 Mar 21
I often get them in showerI guess shower and restrooms are creative zones.
I too get them when scrubbing and cleaning.
I guess shower and restrooms are creative zones. I too get them when scrubbing and cleaning.2 people like this
@ScribbledAdNauseum (104632)
• United States
16 Mar 21
I think it must have something to do with the warm water.
2 people like this
@ScribbledAdNauseum (104632)
• United States
17 Mar 21
@arunima25 That's a good way to describe it.
1 person likes this
@stephcjh (38473)
• United States
17 Mar 21
@ScribbledAdNauseum Right. I have gotten up many times over the years to write stuff down though. Still do.
1 person likes this
@ScribbledAdNauseum (104632)
• United States
16 Mar 21
The same with me, but it's usually when I'm too comfortable to get out of bed. With this white board I will have to stretch up, but not necesarily get uncovered.
1 person likes this
@popciclecold (35084)
• United States
16 Mar 21
I get mine when I am having a really good night sleeping, but the next day its gone.
1 person likes this
@ScribbledAdNauseum (104632)
• United States
16 Mar 21
Yes, it's a horrible feeling when we wake up and remember only that there was something we wanted to remember.
1 person likes this
@snowy22315 (169924)
• United States
16 Mar 21
sometimes when I have worked on or puzzled on a problem when I am not trying to think of it the solution just comes to me.
1 person likes this
@ScribbledAdNauseum (104632)
• United States
16 Mar 21
Pulling the dishes out of the dishwasher two days later? Yeah, that's usually when something I've been puzzling over gets solved.
@ScribbledAdNauseum (104632)
• United States
20 Mar 21
Oh yes, same here. They come to me out of thin air.
1 person likes this
. I suppose I should write these things down, but I never do 
.@much2say (53959)
• Los Angeles, California
22 Mar 21
@ScribbledAdNauseum Oh my gosh, I can't imagine "writing" in the shower! We have to be careful of our water usage, so I best not be distracted from the shower . I can understand wanting to keep things from the fam 
.
. I can understand wanting to keep things from the fam .@ScribbledAdNauseum (104632)
• United States
16 Mar 21
I think they make water resistant ink and paper that can be used in the shower, but I don't use them because I'd probably forget to take them out of the shower when i was done. I don't want my family to see some of the story ideas I come up with.
1 person likes this
@Tina30219 (81540)
• Onaway, Michigan
16 Mar 21
Sometimes my ideas come to me when I am sleeping but I do not remember them when I wake up
1 person likes this
@ScribbledAdNauseum (104632)
• United States
16 Mar 21
Sometimes I'll wake up to go to the toilet and something will cross my mind briefly, hopefully I can write a word or two when this happens so that I'll remember it when I wake up.
@ScribbledAdNauseum (104632)
• United States
17 Mar 21
Oh yes, photos give me ideas too.
There used to be photos at the bottom of our linen closet. A few of them I loved the most was my aunt and a boyfriend in the 70's. She sat with him while he played the guitar.
1 person likes this
@ScribbledAdNauseum (104632)
• United States
17 Mar 21
Random and often inconvenient.
1 person likes this
@LindaOHio (156056)
• United States
17 Mar 21
I used to think of things when I was lying in bed. Then I would stress out because I was afraid I would forget. I solved that problem by putting a pad and pencil next to the bed.
